Tuesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 11/20/2012

Florida lawmakers sworn in, face daunting work

A diverse new class of lawmakers reported to work in the Florida Legislature on Tuesday, tasked with plunging into problems over education, the economy, health care and a national election embarrassment to fix. Lawmakers don't officially start committee work until next year. But the problems they'll face were front-and-center, with a group in the Capitol Rotunda protesting another botched Florida election process. More at the Orlando Sentinel.

Tech Data sales and earnings miss target

Tech Data Corp., Tampa Bay's largest public company by revenues, missed its target for both sales and earnings in its third quarter due to accounting changes and slumping demand in the U.S. The Clearwater-based computer parts distributor reported net income of $45.9 million, or $1.21 per share, in the fiscal quarter ended Oct. 31. More at the Tampa Bay Times.

Over the past dozen years, Jacksonville-based Ice House America has built a network of 2,400 self-service ice machines in 27 states, eliminating the convenience store as middle man for consumers looking to fill up a cooler.

Under new owner Ulysses Management and CEO Peter Cotter, Ice House has created a franchise program to increase sales from the more than 1 billion pounds sold each year.

People who are unemployed at any time during their life may be at an increased risk of having a heart attack after age 50, a new study finds. In fact, the chances of a heart attack associated with multiple job losses may be on par with the risks people face from known factors such as smoking, hypertension and diabetes. More from USA Today.

Florida lawmakers set to review 'strip-mall casinos'

Strip-mall casinos — also known as Internet cafes or sweepstakes cafes — have popped up all over Florida in the past few years, offering easy Internet-based games of chance that have attracted tens of thousands of customers. Now, their fate could be decided by a new Senate committee that's intended to determine the future of gambling in Florida. More at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Allen West concedes to Patrick Murphy

Florida Rep. Allen West — the tea party pugilist and face of the class of House Republicans that stormed to power two years ago — conceded Tuesday to 29-year-old construction executive Patrick Murphy in one of the nation’s highest-profile congressional races. More at Politico and the Associated Press.

End of an Era Thrill ride comes to splintered end

The highly visible Dania Beach Hurricane, one of the United States' 112 wooden roller coasters, will be sold for scrap to help fund a local charity, a spokeswoman for the owner said. The tallest wooden roller coaster in Florida closed in April 2011. The roller coaster, which opened for business in 2000, was built with more than a million board feet of lumber and 8 million pounds of concrete.